Republican Obstructionism's BIG HURT on Our Country, 2009-2013

Tues. June 25, 2013:


Dear Readers, there are SO MANY WAYS that Republican obsructionism is wrecking our country.

Here are just a few:


I.

In 2007, President Bush could openly support immigration reform in Congress, although it ended up not passing.  In 2013, woe be unto ANY immigration bill -- even a bipartisan or Republican bill -- if Obama favors it!  THIS IS THE ABSURDITY THAT WE HAVE REACHED IN CONGRESS!

To quote, from an article by Michael D. Shear:

Six years ago President George W. Bush publicly sent cabinet secretaries to roam the Capitol building daily to try to woo Republican senators for a similar immigration bill.  But this time, high-profile help from the White House is anathema to many Republicans who do not want to be seen by constituents as carrying out the will of Mr. Obama.

So while lawmakers from both parties are privately relying on the White House and its agencies to provide technical information to draft scores of amendments to the immigration bill, few Republicans are willing to admit it.  Some are so eager to prove that the White House is not pulling the strings that their aides say the administration is not playing any role at all.


II.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/opinion/sunday/a-modest-nuclear-agenda.html?src=recg

The most pertinent part:

. . . a disappointing example of what happens when soaring vision collides with the reality of obstructive Republican senators, a recalcitrant Russia and a convergence of regional crises.

Obama had to scale way back his proposed major nuclear weapons reduction treaty with the Russians -- which would make the whole planet safer without affecting deterrence one iota.
Not only because of Putin's usual "recalcitrance."
Even more, because of, you guessed it, Republican obstructionism.



III.

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-20/obamacare-is-for-republicans-too.html

    Against their own interest, G.O.P. governors are trying to sabotage the Affordable Care Act
    -- which, after all, even the conservative Supreme Court has upheld as the Law of the Land.


IV.

Did Republican pressure even wear down Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke?
Paul Krugman, of course, thinks so:

. . . Fed officials are, consciously or not, responding to political pressure.  After all, ever since the Fed began its policy of aggressive monetary stimulus, it has faced angry accusations from the right that it is "debasing" the dollar and setting the stage for high inflation -- accusations that haven't been retracted even though the dollar has remained strong and inflation has remained low.  It's hard to avoid the suspicion that Fed officials, worn down by the constant attacks, have been looking for a reason to slacken their efforts, and have seized on slightly better economic news as an excuse.

Still, Krugman [and also Eduardo Porter]: "What's The Hurry?" About Deficits, Debt, Inflation

Sun. June 23, 2013:



Last post, Paul O'Neill made Paul Krugman look wrong-headed.

But Krugman keeps on tickin':

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/opinion/krugman-fight-the-future.html


And, so does columnist Eduardo Porter, in his "Economic Scene":

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/business/making-the-case-for-a-little-more-inflation.html?pagewanted=all

An Anti-Krugman: Paul O'Neill Criticizes Profligacy in All Presidents -- even Reagan

Sat. June 22, 2013:


Worthy Readers, a few of you have asked for a voice to oppose Paul Krugman's incessant Keynesian call for more public spending until the economy is fully recovered.

Well, here is Paul O'Neill -- and we ain't talkin' 'bout the Yankee Stadium hero of recent yore.
This is former Secretary of the Treasury [under George W. Bush] Paul O'Neill.

This Paul O'Neill has served up economic advice to several presidents.
He deserves our attention, no matter when this was written, or when he is writing about -- both of which are unclear here:


https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13f5303b3cdf9bef&mt=application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D72ff0cfc9d%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13f5303b3cdf9bef%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQFW-cRsYdjHB5AcUuVY4RIrurNKw

Bob Dole & Lowell Weicker: 2 GOP Guys Trying to Save Us From Ourselves

Sat. June 16, 2013:

Dear Worthies, it's been 2 weeks since the last post.  Excuse:  Trip to the beautiful Midwest -- Carroll County, in northwest Illinois, near Ronald Reagan's upbringing in Dixon.

Then, a graveyard in Rockford, north-central Illinois:

Then, amazing hospitality from a large family in Chicago's 1873 "Park Ridge" early "streetcar suburb."  The whole Park Ridge residential block was vintage 1940's/1950's midwestern neighborliness, with canopies of huge trees shading the streets, and neighbors helping each other with yardwork & jokes.  A PERIOD PIECE, from a simpler time.

FOLKS, WE NEED TO SAVE OUR NATION FROM GOING DOWN THE TUBES.
Bob Dole and Lowell Weicker -- 2 oldtime Republicans -- are trying.

PLEASE LISTEN:


1.  Driving around after the Midwest, my radio served up an interview with 1970's former Connecticut Republican Senator Lowell Weicker -- of Watergate era fame.
He was saying that the biggest threat to our country right now -- bar none -- is today's Congressional dysfunction.

               Senators Ted Kennedy, Orrin Hatch, and Lowell Weicker -- A Dem. & 2 G.O.P. 


"In my day [1970's ff.], Dem. & GOP members of both Houses used to play tennis together and then go have dinner together.    Then, we'd have sufficient common respect & understanding to get the people's business done.  Today, the 2 sides won't even talk to each other -- let alone play tennis or have lunch together.  It better change, and fast, or we're doomed."



2.  "The Wisdom of Bob Dole":

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/opinion/bob-dole-misses-his-republican-party.html

                                               "Bob Dole Misses His Republican Party"

"That's Not My Department," said Wehrner von Braun

Sun. June 2, 2013:


Dear Worthy Readers,
Today, you need a vacation from links to other articles.  So, here is just a list of things that are wrong
with a world where Republicans & Democrats screw things up.


To set the tone:

                                                   Can You Recognize This Picture?



1.  The latest New Republic has a cover story claiming that "The NRA Is Going Down."
Alas, the piece is way too optimistic.  Instead, what we have is closer to this newspaper headline:
"Gun Manufacturers Saw Nor Role in Curbing Improper Sales."
Reminiscent of humorist Tom Lehrer's line -- My rockets go up!  "Who cares where they come down?
That's not my department," said Wehrner von Braun.  

Gun manufacturers' current attitude, perfectly captured.


2.  My conservative friends keep telling me what an abomination Obamacare will be.
Well, if it turns out that way, Republicans in Congress, and G.O.P. governors, should shoulder most of the blame.  Their obstructionism has been downright unpatriotic.  Don't take my word for it:
"Partisan Gridlock Thwarts Effort to Revise Health Care Law."


3.  Republicans are still salivating over the 3 recent "Obama scandals" -- Benghazi "coverup,"  I.R.S. targeting of Tea Party & other right-wing requests for tax exemption, and the Justice Department's seizing of A.P. reporters' phone records and a Fox News reporter's phone records in attempts to trace dangerous leaks.
"Behind their loud condemnations, Republicans continue to damage the economy & society."


4.  The right-wing Heritage Foundation used to make responsible conservative points.
But its recent Immigration Report, claiming that upcoming immigration reform would cost the nation
$6,300,000,000,000 [6.3 trillion] over the next 50 years, was patently bogus.  Turned out the author's dissertation at Harvard argued that Latino immigrants were less intelligent than other groups.

"The foundation now seems to suffer from blinders as limiting as the ones that conservatives once perceived in liberal faculty lounges.  The demands of partisanship in the age of Obama seem to have reduced Heritage . . . to little more than sloganeers . . . beating the drums of talk-radio resentment."


5.  Gail Collins nails Michelle Bachmann, and she may not need to do it ever again.

"If Michelle Bachmann leaves Congress, does that mean the end of the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act?"

Her announcement [that she would leave Congress at the end of this term, 2014] had a strange, perky quality that drew instant comparisons to airline safety videos. 


6.  Americans and Their Military Are Drifting Apart.
We need to reconsider a draft.  Pay for wars up front.  Rein in presidential power. 

Sam Adams, 1776:  "A standing Army, however necessary it may be at some times, is always dangerous to the Liberties of the People.  Soldiers are apt to consider themselves as a Body distinct from the rest of the Citizens."


7.  Tom Keane, in a recent Boston Globe, asks:  "Is the auto franchise system a lemon?"
Boy, is it!  Keane's best 2 paragraphs, in paraphrase:

If you want to buy a TV, there are a number of approaches you might take -- retail store, shop online, go direct to the manufacturer.  But if you want to buy, say, a new $14,000 Ford Fiesta, your options are limited.  You can't get it from the manufacturer, nor can you purchase it online.  Conventional retail stores can't carry it either.  You have only one choice:  an automobile dealer.

"Buying a car is the bane of every consumer's existence.  There's that cringe-inducing moment as you walk into the showroom and a salesman (and it's almost always a man) sidles up, suddenly your best friend, offering you a seat and coffee, eager to hear your life story.  There's the opaque pricing and the false negotiation -- "Let me check with my manager" -- and relentless push for more options, extended warranties, dealer add-ons, and dealer-provided financing."